A strip mall on Main Street in west suburban Bartlett represents a leading 1970s and ’80s suburban style — a broad asphalt parking lot fronting a squat, brown row of single-story storefronts. It’s practical for drivers, but nothing you’d want to walk past.

Next door is the future of suburban downtown development — a plain brick building set far back from the road is being knocked down to make way for a larger, more architecturally interesting structure close to the sidewalk, with a business on the first floor that invites pedestrians to take a look and apartments above. The area around the building will be landscaped with parking in the rear and a bike rack in the front.

The new building, located a couple of blocks from the Metra station, follows guidelines set forth as part of the implementation of Bartlett’s year-old transit-oriented development, or “TOD,” blueprint. The plans include improvements to the village’s frequently flooded bike path, new crosswalks and new, multi-unit residential buildings and an office/retail building near the train.

It’s part of an ongoing trend of suburbs revamping their downtowns to make them feel more urban, lively and friendly for walkers and cyclists. TOD is defined as a mix of higher-density housing, retail and entertainment facilities placed near transit, which allow people to decrease their dependence on driving.

It started to grow in popularity among urban designers in the late 1980s and 1990s, though the concept is actually a return to an older, pre-1950s style of urban design, before cars took precedence over people.

“We want to see lights on indowntown Bartlett on Friday night and Saturday night,” said Roberta Grill, the village’s assistant community development director.

Bartlett got help putting together its transit-oriented development plan from the Regional Transportation Authority, the state-sponsored entity that oversees funding for Metra, the CTA and Pace. The RTA supports TOD plans since they encourage transit, walking and biking by putting more housing and retail near train stations.

“Making an area that has transit service more attractive can encourage people to try transit and make them less reliant on the automobile,” said Brian Hacker, senior planner with the RTA’s local planning division.

The RTA has provided $20 million to support 187 community planning projects over the past 19 years, in suburbs such as Orland Park, Elmhurst and Evanston. The projects include TOD plans, plus zoning updates and transit improvement. It gave $100,000 to Bartlett to help put its TOD plan together, while Bartlett added $25,000.

Some suburbs like Arlington Heights and Oak Parkhave become known for their good downtowns, with a walkable grid of streets near transit containing a mix of restaurants, stores and entertainment.

Bartlett was a typical “bedroom” community — people who worked in downtown Chicago took the train back and went straight home. The Metra station used to be surrounded by industrial buildings, said Tony Fradin, the village’s economic development coordinator. There was no reason to hang around downtown, and no practical way to avoid driving everywhere you needed to go.

The process of transit-oriented development, like the growing of a sapling into something that will provide shade, takes a long time and a lot of patience, said RTA and village officials. Bartlett got started by putting more development near its Metra station in 2005, replacing the obsolete industrial buildings with three-story condominiums and two-story mixed residential and retail space near the train. The complex includes the popular 2Toots Train Whistle Grill, which carries customers their food on a model train, and O’Hare’s Pub, which offers live music. The developments were backed by a tax-increment financing plan.

The village complex, which includes the village hall and the police building, was built on Main Street near the Metra station at around the same time, Grill said.

But the recession put a stop to further development. In 2013, Bartlett tried again to improve its downtown, applying for an RTA grant in 2014, and completing its TOD plan late last year, said Fradin.

Fradin said Bartlett hopes the plan, which includes ideas to improve pedestrian safety such as new crosswalks, will create a more urban, “walkable” feel. Bartlett plans to market a 1.8-acre site across from the Metra tracks and hopes to attract a developer in the next year or two for a high-density residential building, as outlined in the TOD plan. Another possible development site is a 5-acre, Metra-owned patch of land directly adjacent to the tracks, which Metra has held for years for possible parking.

Village officials acknowledge that the changes will take time, as the village tries to attract developers who will work with the TOD plan. “You get some successful projects under your belt and it draws others to your community,” said Fradin.

Fradin said the changes could eventually allow Bartlett residents who live near the Metra station to go car-free, or have one less car in the family. “You’re making more of your daily trips by walking.”

Suburbs that have successfully managed transit-oriented development see higher, more resilient property values near train stations, said Andy Kunz, president and CEO of the Transit Oriented Development Institute, which is part of the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. High Speed Rail Association, a rail advocacy group. He pointed to studies showing that during the last recession, TOD areas kept their value while properties outside of TOD districts, the big suburban houses built far from transit, saw big drops. “It’s like the parting of the seas,” he said.

But he said suburbs should proceed with care — for example, do not surround a train station with giant parking lots and bus turnarounds that will deter people from walking to it.

One complaint about TOD projects in Chicago is that they can help boost nearby property values so much that low- and middle-income people are priced out of the area and away from transit. Kunz said that affordability is always an issue — and one of the movement’s “growing pains.” Affordable apartments already exist in the Bartlett TOD study area, Grill said.

Bartlett business owners near the Metra station expressed enthusiasm about the village’s TOD plans.

Pam Jaramillo, owner of the BookLady’s Book Attic, said getting people to visit downtown businesses is tough, and she thinks the TOD plan will attract more people and make downtown less sleepy.

“It’s the golden ticket,” said Martha Katselis, owner of The Closet Boutique, a clothing store. “I always say this is the little town that could.”

Not as busy as you think

Footage of harried crowds at airports before and after Thanksgiving is common on television newscasts this time of year.

So it may surprise you to know that the busiest air travel days in Chicago do not fall around the turkey festival, says the Federal Aviation Administration.

The top 10 busiest travel days at O’Hare International Airport between Oct. 1, 2016, and Sept. 30, 2017, were all in the summer months. Topping the list were Thursday, July 27, and Thursday, June 29, with 2,738 and 2,733 flights, respectively. At Midway, the busiest days were Thursday, Nov. 3, with 904 flights, and Thursday, June 15, with 884.

So while you are sitting on your bags in a line at Midway, take comfort that it could be worse — it could be a summer Thursday. And check out the two new automated security screening lanes, installed last week to speed up security checks.

The lanes include bigger bins and automatic diversion of carry-on bags that may contain prohibited items, allowing other bags to flow through without interruption, according to the Transportation Security Administration. Similar technology was installed last year at O’Hare.

South Side seniors want weekend buses

About 50 Chinatown and other South Side residents, mostly seniors, packed the CTA board meeting last week demanding continued weekend service for the No. 39 Pershing bus and new weekend service on the No. 24 Wentworth bus.

Some seniors told board members that the services were needed for doctor’s appointments, shopping, church services and visits with family.

“Our voice has fallen on deaf ears for 20 years,” said community activist Lindsay Graves, Jr. The CTA is running a pilot weekend program on the No. 39 bus, but the No. 24 weekend service was cut in 1997, because of low ridership.

CTA Chair Terry Peterson said he understood the residents’ concerns but noted that the CTA had recently removed a portion of a North Side route, the No. 11 Lincoln, which had failed to get enough riders after a pilot. He said the CTA would take weekend service requests under consideration, but citizens have to consider that the agency is getting less state funding. It may raise fares.

“Right now, we’re fighting to maintain what we have,” Peterson said.

Transportation song quiz

Last week’s song was about a two-wheeled vehicle, sung by a movie villain while dying. The song was “Daisy Bell,” sung by Hal 9000, the homicidal computer in “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Dave Tabak of Barrington had the right answer at the right time.

We’ll stick with the theme of singing sci-fi characters. Some “Enterprise” crew members sing an ode to a freedom-loving sailor. What’s the song, and who wrote it? The first reader to get it right gets a Tribune notebook and baseball cards. I’ll tweet the answer Monday afternoon.